Shoe and bottom member



May 3, 1949. F. A. BURNS 2,468,863

SHOE AND BOTTOM MEMBER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 1, 1947 May 3, 1949.

F. A. BURNS SHOE AND BOTTOM MEMBER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 1, 1947 [nu em for Francis A. Burns Patented May 3, 1949 SHOE AND BOTTOM MEMBER Francis A. Burns, Townsend, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 1, 1947, Serial No. 725,904 2 Claims; (01. 36-195) This invention relates to improvements in shoes and more particularly to improvements in the construction of slip-lasted shoes.

The slip-lasted shoe construction is especially adapted to the manufacture of an inexpensive play shoe, particularly a platform shoe commonly referred to as the California type shoe. In manufacturing a slip-lasted shoe, 2. pre-fitted upper is stitched at its lower edge between the peripheral edge of a sock lining and an edge of a cover strip. A last is then slipped into the shoe.

adhesive applied to the bottom surface of the sock lining, and a shoe-bttom member consisting, for example, of a platform and wedge heel, similarly coated, is placed against the sock lining and pressed into engagement therewith. Thereafter, the cover strip is folded down around the peripheral edge face of the bottom member, carried inwardly under the bottom thereof and cemented thereto. Then an outsole or tread sole is applied to the shoe bottom under the inturned margin of the cover strip. As thus constructed, the upper and sock lining are held to the bottom member solely by the adhesive between the sock lining and the top of the bottom member and by the lower margin of the cover strip which is turned inwardly under the bottom surface of the bottom member. This is not always sufficient to prevent separation of the sock lining and upper from the bottom member, due to the fact that the bottom member, particularly the heel portion, is rigid and hence will not yield to relieve the strain imposed on the upper during the wearing of the shoe. In an open shank shoe or sling-back shoe, in which the upper is not continuous but consists of a vamp and quarter straps, the pulling away of the upper from the bottom member is evidenced by separation at such points as the rear edges of the vamp and the lower ends of the quarter straps. Furthermore, wearing of the shoe often subjects the rather light seam connecting the upper or upper straps to the sock lining to such strain that it gives way.

Objects of this invention, therefore, are to provide a novel construction which will prevent the upper and socket lining from pulling away from the bottom member, which will prevent ripping of the slip-lasting seam, which will not add materially to the cost of manufacture, which may be included without material change in present shoe constructions, and which willnot detract in any way from the appearance of the shoe.

Accordingly, the invention provides a shoe construction comprising an upper having spaced tongue-like projections or tabs along its lower edge between which the lower edge of the upper has no substantial projection beyond the sliplasting seam, and a shoe-bottom member having slots or recesses in its marginal edge, correspondin in number and disposition to the tabs on the lower edge of the upper, for the reception of said tabs, means for securing the tabs to the bottom of an upper.

member in said recesses, and a strip member stitched to the upper and sock lining along a line parallel to the edge of the last bottom, the strip member being secured to the bottom member. As illustrated, the recesses are formed in the edge face of the shoe-bottom member, and are of sufficient depth to accommodate the thickness of the tabs on the upper so that the outer surfaces of said tabs will be flush with the edge face of the bottom member when they are secured in the recesses.

As a modified construction, tabs corresponding to those at the lower edge of the upper may also be formed along the peripheral edge of the sock lining and may be folded down together with the tabs at the lower edge of the upperinto the recesses and secured therein, in which case, the recesses in the peripheral edge face of the bottom member are made of a depth equal to the combined thicknesses of the upper and sock lining material. While the tabs heretofore described may be formed at intervals substantially all the way around an upper. particularly if it is a closed upper, in one of the illustrated constructions, there is shown an open shank shoe in which tabs are formed only at the rear edges of the vamp and as continuations of the quarter straps. Hence, in this construction, recesses are formed only in the edge face of the bottom member near the breast line and near the ball line in the forepart.

Invention also resides in the provision of a novel bottom member for use in the manufacture of shoes of the aforesaid construction, said member having shallow recesses in its edge face for the reception of tabs formed at the lower edge Such a bottom member may comprise a platform of uniform thickness or of wedge shape, or if desired a composite member consisting of a midsole and a wedge heel. In whatever form the bottom member may take, recesses are formed in its edge face correspondin in number and position to the tabs at the lower edge of the upper, the recesses being of sufficient depth to accommodate the tongue-like projections so that their outer surfaces will be substantially flush with the peripheral edge face of the bottom mem-- ber. If desired. the recesses may extend from top to bottom of the peripheral edge face of the bottom member so that the tabs on the upper may be carried in under the bottom of the bottom member. On the other hand, the recesses may terminate between the top and bottom surfaces of the bottom member.

The details of the shoe construction in its various forms as related above will. now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the rear portion of a shoe in which the cover strip is turned up to show the tabs at the lower edge of the upper and the recesses in the edge face of the bottom member for receiving the same;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line IIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 in which tabs are formed at the lower edge of the upper and also along the peripheral edge of the sock lining;

Fig. 4 is ,a perspective view of an open shank s'hoe provided with a composite shoe-bottom member consisting of a platform midsole and wedge heel, the cover strip being broken away and folded back in places to show the tabs at the lower rear edges of the vamp and at the end portions of the quarter straps fixed in recessesformed in the edge face of the composite bottom member;

.Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the composite bottom member illustrated in Fig. 4 with recesses in the heel portion and in the forward portion of the shank;

Fig. 6 isa perspective view of a wedge heel having recesses formed in its edge face at about the heel-breast line.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, an upper 10 is shown stitched at its lower edge l2 between the edge M of a sock lining l6 and an edge is of a cover strip 20. At the lower edge of the upper ii! there 5 are provided tabs 22 which are formed preferably as .continuations of the upper material extending beyond the line of stitching. A last 2' is slipped into the shoe, adhesive is applied to the bottom surface of the sock lining l6, and a shoebottom member 26, to which adhesive has been applied, is pressed into engagement with the bottom of the sock lining. The bottom member 26, which may be a platform midsole of uniform thickness or of wedge shape, or which may be a combination of .a wedge heel and platform sole, is provided in its edge face 2? with recesses 2.8 corresponding in number and position to the tabs 22 formed .at the lower edge of the upper. The recesses 28 are cut or routed out to a depth which corresponds substantially to the thickness of the upper material so that, when the tabs 22 are pressed into the recesses, their outersurfaces will be substantially flush with the edge face 2; of the bottom member 26. The tabs 22 are secured'in the recesses 28 by means of adhesive or staples, as may be desired, and the cover strip 2b may then be folded down over the edge face of the bottom member, as illustrated in Fig. 2, and 'is turned or lasted inwardly over the bottom surface thereof. An outsole or tread sole member 29 is finallyapp'lied to the'bottom surface of the bottom member underlying the inturned portion of the cover strip. As thus constructed, tabs 22 afford additional securing means which will successfully resist the Separation of the upper and suck lining from the shoe-bottom member by reason of any strain to which the upper is subjected, for example, during the wearingof'the shoe, and will prevent ripping of the slip -1asting seam.

In a somewhat modified form of the construction described above, the sock lining 16 (Fig. 3) as well as the upper I0 is provided with tabs 30 corresponding in number and disposition to the tabs 22 of the upper. The tabs 30 extend from the peripheral edge :of the sock lining as a continuation thereof and are folded downwardly together with the tabs 22. of. the upper into the recesses 28 formed in the edge face of the shoebottom member 26, the tabs being secured in place by fastening means such as adhesive or staples. In this instance, the recesses 28 are routed out to a depth which is sufficient to accommodate the combined thicknesses of the upper and sock lining so that the exposed surface of the tabs 22 will be flush with the peripheral edge face of the shoe-bottom member.

A specific application of these reinforcing tongue-like projections to an open shank sandal type shoe is illustrated in Fig. 4 in which the upper consists of a vamp 36 and quarter straps 38 for attaching an ankle strap 39 to the bottom member. The vamp 36 and quarter straps 3B are stitched between the peripheral edge ofa sock lining 49 and an edge of a platform cover strip 42. As illustrated, the cover strip 42 is broken away along .the edge face of the bottom member substantially at the heel-breast line where the quarter straps 38 are stitched to the sock lining, to show that the straps have tabs 44 there-on extending below the line of stitching. The cover strip is also broken away at the vicinity of the ball line to show that the vamp 36 has tabs 45 extending from its rear edges. The tabs 44 and 45 are secured in recesses 54 and 56, respectively, formed in the edge face of the bottom member. As illustrated in Fig. 5, the shoebottom member consists of a. cushion member 48, a midsole 49 and a wedge heel '50., including a forwardly projecting shank portion, secured together to form a composite bottom 'unit. The recesses 5.4 are routed out in the peripheral edge face of the composite bottom member in the region of the breast line of theheel portion thereof for the reception of the tabs at the lower ends of the quarter straps 38 and the. recesses 56 are routed out near the ball line of the unit for the reception of the .tabs 46 at the rear edges of the vamp. The upper is assembled together with the shoe-bottom member, as heretofore pointed out, by means of adhesive applied to the lower surface of the sock lining and the upper surface of the bottom member. The tabs 44 and 46 are then foldeddownwardly into their respective recesses 54 and 55 and stapled in place. Preferably, the tabs 46 are made long enough to be folded under the bottom memberand secured thereto by fastenings such as staples driven into the bottom surface thereof. The cover strip 42 is'then-folded down over the peripheral edge face of the composite bottom member and turned or lasted-in under its bottom surface whereupon a sole memher an such as an outsole or tread sole is applied to the bottom surface of .the bottommember.

.The shoe-bottom member illustrated in Fig. .5 is made up of acushion member 48 and a semirigid member 49 securedto a rigid wedge heel 50. Preferably the wedgeheel is prepared prior to attachment to the ,midsole by forming recesses in its edge face vat the proper position to receive the tongue-like projections at the lower edge of the upper as illustrated in Fig. 6 .in the vicinity of the-breast lineof the heeLthe recesses extendin from the top face of the .heel vdownwardlyalone the-edge face toa line substantially midway between the top and bottom surfaces of the heel. The recesses should be somewhat wider than the tongue-like projections and of uniform depth corresponding to the thickness of the tonguelike projections. Care should be taken in routing out the recesses to the proper depth, for if they are too shallow, raised areas will appear after the cover strip has been folded down over the edge face of the bottom member, or if they are too deep, hollow areas Will appear. The Wedge heel 50, as shown, has a forwardly projecting integral shank portion. If the shank portion extends as far forwardly as the ball line of the composite bottom member as illustrated in Fig. 4, additional recesses may be formed therein to correspond to the recesses formed in the midsole at this point so that the tabs at the rear edges of the vamp may extend downwardly over the edge face of the bottom member and may be folded in over the bottom thereof without projecting beyond the edge face of the bottom member. While the recesses have been shown only at two points, namely, in the edge face of the heel in the region of the breast line, it is clearly within the scope of the invention to have a greater number of recesses formed in both the heel portion and the forepart of the bottom member for the reception of a greater number of tabs, for example, they may be formed at spaced intervals substantially all the way around the upper.

It is evident from the preceding description of the novel construction which forms the subject matter of this invention that with very little variation it may be adapted for use with substantially any type of slip lasted shoe and that it will materially add to the strength of the shoe with a minimum of change in the construction of the shoe and without detracting from the appearance thereof in any respect.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a slip-lasted open shank shoe, a, sock lining, a cover strip, a vamp, and quarter straps stitched near their lower edges between the peripheral edge of the sock lining and an edge all) of the cover strip, tabs at the lower edge of the vamp near its rear edges and at the lower ends of the quarter straps, a bottom member having recesses in the peripheral edge face at positions to receive said tabs, said vamp, quarter straps and bottom member being assembled together by adhesively securing said sock lining to said bottom member so that said tabs lie in said recesses, and means for securing said tabs in said recesses flush with the edge face of the bottom member, said cover strip extending over the edge face of the bottom member and being secured to the bottom of said bottom member.

2. A composite bottom member for use in sliplasted shoes consisting of a platform midsole to which is secured a substantially rigid wedge heel member, said composite bottom member being provided with shallow recesses in its peripheral edge face in the shank portion thereof for the reception of tabs formed at the rear edges of a vamp to be attached to the forepart of the bottom member and being also provided with recesses near the breast line of the heel for the reception of tabs formed at the lower ends of quarter straps to be attached to the rear part of the bottom member, the recesses at the shank portion of said bottom member extending from the top surface to the bottom surface thereof so that the tabs of the vamp may be folded over the edge face.

and beneath the bottom member without projecting beyond the edge face thereof, and the recesses at the breast line terminating midway between the top and bottom surfaces of said rigid heel member.

FRANCIS A. BURNS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,072,785 Wulff Mar. 2, 1937 2,177,571 Kirke Oct. 24, 1939 2,297,594 Wienstat Sept. 29, 1942 2,425,420 Chandler Aug. 12, 1947 

